Currituck Banks Coastal Estuarine Reserve

Before the settlement of northeastern North Carolina, the area known as Currituck County was home to the Poteskeet Indians. Although their main village was located on the mainland, the Poteskeet hunted and fished Currituck Sound and on Currituck Banks. In 1584, the English first attempted settlement in the New World on nearby Roanoke Island. English settlers started moving into the region by the late seventeenth century and survived by farming and fishing. They lived on the Currituck mainland and transported cattle and sheep to the Banks to feed on the abundant marsh grasses.

Until the early 1800's, Currituck Sound was directly connected to the Atlantic Ocean by one or more inlets through the Banks. By 1680, shifting sands began to fill the inlet(s) and eventually closed it. This began the transformation of Currituck Sound from a high-salinity estuarine environment to a low-salinity estuarine environment. The marshes and waters of Currituck Sound became well known throughout the nation as prime waterfowl and hunting grounds. Hunting clubhouses sprung up around the Sound.

During the late 1800's and early 1900's, several small farming and fishing communities were established on the Banks. Lifesaving stations and a lighthouse were built in the area following a series of shipwrecks in the 1870's. The area was used for gill-netting, after a permanent settlement was established in the late 1890's. As fishing and farming declined during the 20th century, waterfowl hunting and sport fishing became increasingly popular. Since WWII, real estate development has played an important role in shaping the character of Currituck Banks. Although the Banks remain sparsely settled compared to other parts of the North Carolina coast, the area is changing rapidly.

The Currituck Banks Coastal Estuarine Reserve site is an excellent example of an undisturbed barrier island and low-salinity estuarine system. The site lies in the northeastern corner of North Carolina, 10 miles south of the Virginia border and three-quarters of a mile north of the village of Corolla, in Currituck County. Bounded by Currituck Sound and the Atlantic Ocean, the site encompasses 954 acres. The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service own neighboring tracts.

Currituck is located within the Atlantic Flyway, attracting accipiters, falcons, ducks, geese, warblers, gulls, terns, herons and egrets. Indigo buntings, bobwhites and other mainland species also use the islands for nesting. The site has particular significance with respect to waterfowl. Currituck Sound harbors an estimated six percent of the Atlantic Flyway overwintering waterfowl population and 32 percent of North Carolina's wintering fowl. Typical types of waterfowl include dabbling ducks, diving ducks, geese, swans and coots.

Currituck Sound contains a rich resource of forage, commercial and game fish. Largemouth bass, yellow perch, striped bass, tidewater silverside and pumpkinseed fish are the ecologically dominant species. Other game fish found in the area include white perch, bluegill, black crappie, chain pickerel and channel catfish. Carp, shad, herring and eels are also found in the area. Mammals include muskrats, river otters and minks, as well as deer, gray foxes, raccoons, opossums, nutrias and feral hogs. Occasionally, feral horses graze or pass through the site. Mole crabs, ghost crabs and coquina clams among other invertebrates are common in the site's intertidal zone. Common fish include striped bass, bluefish, mullet, croaker, spot and weakfish.

Federally-listed threatened or endangered species and dozens of species recognized by state biologists as endangered, threatened or of special concern are found at this site. Bald eagles and piping plovers are seen occasionally, but are not known to nest in the area. Peregrine falcons migrate through the Banks in the fall. Scattered nest sites for loggerhead turtles, federally-protected, threatened reptiles, are also found in the Currituck Banks site.

Plant species indicative of this change are sea oats (typical of the southern areas) and American beach grass (found to the north and around the great lakes), which grow together on Currituck dunes. General plant communities of the site include grass-dominated dunes, shrub thicket, maritime forest, freshwater marsh, brackish marsh and submerged vegetation in the sound.



More Info: ncnerr.org or nature.org